Storage area dynamic assignment method

ABSTRACT

A storage system allocates a data storage area in response to an access request from a first computer if the capacity of a first physical storage device configuring a first logical storage area, provided to the first computer, is equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold. The storage system associates the first logical storage area with another physical storage device, which is different from the first physical storage device associated with a second logical storage area provided to the first computer and a second computer, and allocates a data storage area from the another physical storage device if the capacity of the first physical storage device associated with the first logical storage area exceeds the predetermined threshold.

The present application claims priority from Japanese application JP2006-109323 filed on Apr. 12, 2006, the content of which is herebyincorporated by reference into this application.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a storage system used in a computersystem. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method forextending the volume capacity when data is written from a host computerto a storage system.

In general, a computer system is composed of a host computer thatperforms operations and a storage system that reads and writes dataaccording to instructions from the host computer. The storage systemprovides multiple volumes to and from which data is stored and read.

An increase in the amount of data written by a host computer requires anincrease in the capacity of the volumes allocated to that host computer.This is called the extension of the volume capacity.

An example of the volume capacity extension method is that a storageadministrator stops the operation of a host computer, extends thecapacity, and restarts the operation of the host computer. The problemwith this method is that the operation of the host computer must be oncestopped and, therefore, the operation is interrupted.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,823,442 discloses a volume capacity automatic extensiontechnology for use in a storage system. The volume capacity automaticextension technology is a technology in which a storage area pool isprepared in the storage system and a volume created from this storagearea pool, which shows a virtual capacity to the host computer, is usedto allocate a necessary storage area according to data written by thehost computer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The volume capacity automatic extension technology increases the volumecapacity usage ratio as more and more volumes are provided from onestorage area pool to a host computer. However, in case where a largeamount of the storage area is allocated to a specific volume, the amountof the storage area in the storage area pool available for other volumesis reduced.

In view of the foregoing, U.S. Pat. No. 6,823,442 discloses a threshold,which indicates that “no more storage area is allocated” to a volume.More specifically, if a necessary storage area is allocated from thestorage area pool when a host computer writes data to a volume, thestorage system references this threshold and, if the threshold isexceeded, responds with an error to the write request from the hostcomputer. The storage system allocates no storage area from the storagearea pool when it responds with an error.

As described above, the threshold has an effect of suppressing areduction in the amount of storage area in the storage area pool.However, because the host computer operation is once stopped when thethreshold is exceeded, the operation is interrupted.

In the present invention, a storage system connected to a first computerand a second computer associates a first logical storage area and asecond logical storage area, configured by a first physical storagedevice in the storage system, with a first computer and a secondcomputer, respectively, and provides those logical storage areas. If thecapacity of the first physical storage device associated with the firstlogical storage area is equal to or lower than a predeterminedthreshold, the storage system allocates a data storage area in responseto an access request from the first computer. If the capacity of thefirst physical storage device associated with the first logical storagearea exceeds the predetermined threshold, the storage system associatesthe first logical storage area with another physical storage device,which is different from the first physical storage device associatedwith the first and second logical storage areas, and allocates a datastorage area from the another physical storage device.

For example, the first physical storage device is a storage area pool(hereinafter called “volume pool for virtual volumes”). The storagesystem allocates storage areas to logical volumes (hereinafter called“virtual volumes”), provided to the first and second computers, from thevolume pool for virtual volumes.

When multiple host computers use storage areas in a storage system, themethod according to the present invention allows the host computers tocontinue operation and prevents the processing performance of thestorage system from being reduced.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent from the following description of the embodiments of theinvention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of acomputer system in a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a storagesystem in the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of amanagement computer in the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of amanagement client in the first embodiment.

FIG. 5A is a diagram showing an example of a real volume table in thefirst embodiment.

FIG. 5B is a diagram showing an example of a virtual volume table in thefirst embodiment.

FIG. 5C is a diagram showing an example of a virtual volume addressingtable in the first embodiment.

FIG. 5D is a diagram showing an example of a volume pool table forvirtual volumes in the first embodiment.

FIG. 5E is a diagram showing an example of a parity group table in thefirst embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a table provided in themanagement computer in the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a virtual volume control program in the firstembodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a virtual volume creationscreen in the first embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a virtual volume migration program in the firstembodiment.

FIG. 10A is a diagram showing an example of the real volume table placedin the migration state in the first embodiment.

FIG. 10B is a diagram showing an example of the virtual volume tableplaced in the migration state in the first embodiment.

FIG. 11A is a diagram showing an example of the virtual volume tablewhile data is migrated in the first embodiment.

FIG. 11B is a diagram showing an example of the virtual volumeaddressing table while data is migrated in the first embodiment.

FIG. 11C is a diagram showing an example of the volume pool table forvirtual volumes while data is migrated in the first embodiment.

FIG. 12A is a diagram showing an example of the virtual volume tableafter data is migrated in the first embodiment.

FIG. 12B is a diagram showing an example of the virtual volumeaddressing table after data is migrated in the first embodiment.

FIG. 12C is a diagram showing an example of the volume pool table forvirtual volumes after data is migrated in the first embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a virtual volume migration program in a firstmodification of the first embodiment.

FIG. 14A is a diagram showing an example of the real volume table in thefirst modification of the first embodiment.

FIG. 14B is a diagram showing an example of the virtual volume table inthe first modification of the first embodiment.

FIG. 14C is a diagram showing an example of the virtual volumeaddressing table in the first modification of the first embodiment.

FIG. 14D is a diagram showing an example of the volume pool table forvirtual volumes in the first modification of the first embodiment.

FIG. 14E is a diagram showing an example of the parity group table inthe first modification of the first embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart of a virtual volume migration program in a secondmodification of the first embodiment.

FIG. 16A is a diagram showing an example of the virtual volumeaddressing table after data is migrated in the second modification ofthe first embodiment.

FIG. 16B is a diagram showing an example of the volume pool table forvirtual volumes after data is migrated in the second modification of thefirst embodiment.

FIG. 17A is a diagram showing an example of the virtual volumeaddressing table after a pool is divided in the second modification ofthe first embodiment.

FIG. 17B is a diagram showing an example of the volume pool table forvirtual volumes after a pool is divided in the second modification ofthe first embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of acomputer system in a second embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of astorage system in the second embodiment.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of amanagement computer in the second embodiment.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart of a virtual volume control program in the secondembodiment.

FIG. 22A is a diagram showing an example of a virtual volume creationscreen in the second embodiment.

FIG. 22B is a diagram showing an example of a virtual volume migrationmethod management table in the second embodiment.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart of a virtual volume configuration program in thesecond embodiment.

FIG. 24A is a diagram showing an example of the virtual volume creationscreen in a first modification of the second embodiment.

FIG. 24B is a diagram showing an example of the virtual volume migrationmethod management table in the first modification of the secondembodiment.

FIG. 25 is a flowchart of a virtual volume configuration program in thefirst modification of the second embodiment.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing the concept of an LU, a real volume, avirtual volume, a pooled volume, and a parity group in the embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail withreference to the drawings. It should be noted that the present inventionis not limited to those embodiments.

First Embodiment

In a first embodiment, a storage system has a virtual volume migrationprogram therein and, in case where a large amount of storage area isallocated to a specific virtual volume, the storage system migrates datato an unused volume when the threshold is exceeded. The followingdescribes this method.

First, the following describes the configuration of a computer system inthe first embodiment. FIG. 1 to FIG. 4 show the configuration of thecomputer system and the configuration of the devices connected to thecomputer system. FIG. 5 to FIG. 6 show the management informationprovided in the devices.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a computer system in the firstembodiment. The system comprises one or more host computers 10000 andone or more storage systems 20000 that are interconnected via a storagenetwork 50000.

The host computer 10000 comprises a processor 11000, a memory 12000, oneor more I/O ports 13000 for connection to the storage network 50000, amanagement port 14000 for connection to a management network 60000, anoutput unit 15000 such as a display device for outputting processingresults, and an input unit 16000 such as a keyboard and a mouse. Thosecomponents are interconnected via an internal bus 17000. The memory12000 stores the OS (not shown) and applications (not shown) thatperform processing which involves an access to data stored in thestorage system. The programs are read from a storage medium (not shown),such as a hard disk, for execution by the processor 11000.

The storage system 20000 comprises a virtual volume control program22111, a virtual volume migration program 22120, real volumes 25000,virtual volumes 26000, pooled volumes 27000, and a volume pool forvirtual volumes 27500. The detailed configuration will be describedlater.

A management computer 40000 comprises a virtual volume configurationprogram 42200. The detail will be described later.

A management client 70000 will be described later.

For convenience of description, assume that a host computer H1 isconnected to a storage system ST1 via the storage network in the firstembodiment. Also assume that the storage network 50000 is a networkusing the FC (Fibre Channel) protocol and that the management network60000 is a network using the TCP/IP protocol.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the detailed configuration of the storagesystem 20000. The storage system 20000 comprises a controller 21000 thatcontrols the storage system, a memory 22000, one or more I/O ports 23000for connection to the storage network 50000, one or more real volumes25000 provided to the host computer as a storage area, one or morevirtual volumes 26000 provided to the host computer as a storage area,one or more pooled volumes 27000 that constitute a storage area in whichdata is stored for providing virtual volumes, and a volume pool forvirtual volumes 27500 composed of one or more pooled volumes anddefining the range of pooled volumes that provide a storage area to avirtual volume. Those components are interconnected via the controller21000.

Now, with reference to FIG. 26, the following describes the differenceamong the real volume 25000, the virtual volume 26000, and the pooledvolume 27000. Based on a SCSI port ID (hereinafter abbreviated to “PID”)assigned to an I/O port of the storage system and an SCSI LU number(hereinafter abbreviated to “LUN”) assigned to a logical unit(hereinafter abbreviated to “LU” (Logical Unit)) that is a logicalstorage area, the host computer 10000 accesses an LU 28000 for readingor writing data. The LU 28000 may be set for each host computer 10000.The LU 28000 may also be set for each application used by the hostcomputer 10000.

The storage system 20000 associates this LU 28000 with the real volume25000 or the virtual volume 26000 and stores data, which is read orwritten by the host computer 10000, in the real volume 25000 or thevirtual volume 26000.

When the real volume 25000 is associated with the LU 28000, the storagesystem 20000 stores data either in a RAID composed of multiple harddisks installed in the storage system, or in a physical storage areacomposed of one hard disk, with which the real volume 25000 isassociated. In this embodiment, assume that the real volume 25000 isconfigured as a RAID composed of multiple hard disks (hereinafter calledHDD), called a parity group 29000, installed in the storage system.

When the LU 28000 is associated with the virtual volume 26000, thestorage system 20000 uses the technology disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.6,823,442 to allocate a necessary storage area according to the amountof data written by the host computer 10000. First, the storage system20000 associates the virtual volume 26000 with the storage area of oneor more pooled volumes 27000 belonging to the volume pool for virtualvolumes 27500 that provides storage areas to the virtual volume. Inaddition, the storage system 20000 associates the pooled volumes 27000either with a physical storage area in a RAID composed of multiple harddisks installed in the storage system or with a physical storage areacomposed of one hard disk and then stores data therein. In thisembodiment, assume that the pooled volume 27000 is configured in thesame way as the real volume 25000; that is it is configured as a RAIDcomposed of multiple hard disks (HDD), called the parity group 29000,installed in the storage system.

As will be described later, a real volume table 22200 prepared in thestorage system 20000 is a table for managing the correspondence betweenthe LU 28000 and the real volumes 25000. A virtual volume table 22300 isa table for managing the correspondence between the LU 28000 and thevirtual volumes 26000. A virtual volume addressing table 22500 is atable for managing the correspondence between the virtual volumes 26000and the pooled volumes 27000. A volume pool table for virtual volumes22600 is a table for managing the correspondence between the pooledvolumes 27000 and the volume pool for virtual volumes 27500. A paritygroup table 22700 is a table for managing the correspondence between thereal volumes 25000, pooled volumes 27000, and the parity groups 29000.

Returning to the description of FIG. 2, the memory 22000 storesmicrocode programs 22100 executed by the controller for controlling thestorage system. The microcode program 22100 includes the virtual volumecontrol program 22111 and the virtual volume migration program 22120that will be described later. The general operation of the virtualvolume control program 22111 will be described later. The memory 22000also stores the real volume table 22200 that manages the real volumes25000 in the storage system, the virtual volume table 22300 that managesthe virtual volumes 26000, the virtual volume addressing table 22500referenced by the virtual volume control program 22111 and indicatingwhere data stored in a virtual volume is located in the pooled volumes,the volume pool table for virtual volumes 22600 referenced by thevirtual volume control program 22111 and indicating the configuration ofpooled volumes constituting a volume pool for virtual volumes, and aparity group table 22700 indicating which parity group 29000 constitutesthe real volume 25000 or pooled volume 27000 in the storage system.Those tables and programs are read from a storage medium (not shown),such as a hard disk, when the storage system is started.

This embodiment may be applied to a configuration with any number of I/Oports 23000 and any number and amount of real volumes 25000, virtualvolumes 26000, pooled volumes 27000, and volume pools for virtualvolumes 27500.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the configuration of the management computerin the first embodiment.

The management computer 40000 comprises a processor 41000, a memory42000, a management port 44000 for connection to the management network60000, an output unit 45000 such as a display for outputting processingresults, and an input unit 46000 such as a keyboard and a mouse. Thosecomponents are interconnected via an internal bus 47000. The memory42000 stores a configuration information collection program 42100(detailed flow not shown) for executing the collection of configurationinformation and the configuration setting of the storage system 20000,the virtual volume configuration management program 42200 (detailed flownot shown) for executing the setting of virtual volumes, an input/outputprogram 42300 (detailed flow not shown) for communicating with the inputunit 46000 and the output unit 45000 of the management computer 40000and with the management client 70000 for executing the input/output ofthe virtual volume configuration management program, and a system table43100 for allowing the management computer 40000 to identify the hostcomputer 10000 and the storage system 20000 to be managed. Thoseprograms and tables are implemented when the processor 41000 reads themfrom the storage medium (not shown), such as a hard disk, into thememory 42000 for execution. Although not shown, the OS (OperatingSystem) is read from a storage medium into the memory 42000 forexecution by the processor 41000.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the configuration of the management client inthe first embodiment.

The management client 70000 comprises a processor 71000, a memory 72000,a management port 74000 for connection to the management network 60000,an output unit 75000 such as a display for outputting processingresults, and an input unit 76000 such as a keyboard and a mouse. Thosecomponents are interconnected via an internal bus 77000. The memory72000 stores an input/output program 42400 that controls theinput/output operation for remotely executing a program on themanagement computer 40000. This program is implemented when theprocessor 71000 reads it from a storage medium (not shown), such as ahard disk, into the memory 72000 for execution. Although not shown inthe figure, the OS (Operating System) is read from a storage medium (notshown), such as a hard disk, into the memory 72000 for execution by theprocessor 71000.

FIG. 5 shows an example of the tables stored in the storage system inthe first embodiment.

FIG. 5A shows an example of the real volume table 22200 for managing thereal volumes 25000 in the storage system. The real volume table 22200 iscomposed of a real volume ID 22205 in which a real volume ID, which isthe unique identifier of a real volume in the storage system, isregistered, a host allocation status 22210 indicating the status ofallocation of the real volume to the host computer, and a capacity 22215indicating the capacity of the real volume. There are two values for thehost allocation status 22210: “Allocated” indicating that the realvolume is allocated to the host computer and “Unallocated” indicatingthat the real volume is not allocated to the host computer. For the“Allocated” status, the PID that is the ID of the I/O port 23000 and theLUN that is the SCSI LU number are also stored to allow the hostcomputer to access this table.

FIG. 5B shows an example of the virtual volume table 22300 for managingthe virtual volumes 26000 in the storage system. The virtual volumetable 22300 is composed of a virtual volume ID 22305 in which a virtualvolume ID, which is the unique identifier of a virtual volume in thestorage system, is registered, a host allocation status 22310 indicatingthe status of allocation of the virtual volume to the host computer, avirtual capacity 22315 indicating the capacity of the virtual volume, athreshold 22320 indicating a threshold that will be described later, andan assigned capacity 22325 indicating the capacity of storage areasactually allocated to the virtual volume. The meanings of the values ofthe host allocation status 22310 are the same as those in FIG. 5A andtherefore their description is omitted.

FIG. 5C shows an example of the virtual volume addressing table 22500referenced by the virtual volume control program 22111 and indicatingthe location of data, stored in a virtual volume, within pooled volumes.The virtual volume addressing table 22500 is composed of a volume ID22505 in which the ID of a virtual volume is registered, a pool 22510 inwhich a pool ID, which indicates identification information on thevolume pool for virtual volumes used by the virtual volume to store dataand which is a unique identifier of a volume pool for virtual volumes inthe storage system, is registered, an assigned LBA 22515 in which thelogical block address (Logical Block Address, hereinafter called LBA) ofa storage area, which is a part of the storage area space provided bythis virtual volume to the host computer and to which a storage area isactually assigned, is registered, and an assigned chunk 22520, in whichan identifier is stored that uniquely identifies, in the storage system,the assigned storage area (hereinafter called a chunk) corresponding tothe LBA. The symbol [xGB] in the assigned LBA 22515 is defined as asymbol indicating the xGBth address from the start of a volume.

The following describes the meaning of the records in FIG. 5C with therecord, which includes v102 in the volume ID 22505, as an example. Thisrecord indicates that the chunk ch04, to or from which data is writtenor read, is allocated to an 2 GB storage area, beginning at the address2 GB from the start and ending at the address 4 GB from the start, ofthe virtual volume v102.

FIG. 5D shows an example of the volume pool table for virtual volumes22600 referenced by the virtual volume control program 22111 andindicating the configuration of pooled volumes that configure a volumepool for virtual volumes. The volume pool table for virtual volumes22600 is composed of a pool ID 22605 in which a pool ID is registered, achunk 22610 in which the chunk ID of a chunk belonging to the volumepool for virtual volumes is registered, a pooled volume 22615 in which apooled volume ID, which indicates a pooled volume providing a storagearea corresponding to the chunk and which is a unique pooled volumeidentifier in the storage system, is registered, an LBA 22620 thatindicates the correspondence between a storage area space provided bythe pooled volume to the volume pool for virtual volumes and the chunk,and a virtual volume allocation status 22625 that indicates the statusof allocation of the chunk to the virtual volume. The pooled volume22615 also stores the capacity information on the pooled volume. Thevirtual volume allocation status 22625 has two types of status:“Allocated” status indicating that the chunk is allocated to the virtualvolume and “Unallocated” status indicating that the chunk is notallocated to the virtual volume. For the “Allocated” status, the valueof the virtual volume ID indicating to which virtual volume the chunk isallocated is also stored. The meaning of the symbol [xGB] in the LBA22620 is the same as that in FIG. 5C.

The following describes the meaning of the records in FIG. 5D with therecord, which includes ch01 in the chunk 22610, as an example. Thisrecord indicates that the chunk ch01 is composed of a 2 GB storage area,beginning at the address 0 GB from the start of the 10 GB pooled volumev201 and ending at the address 2 GB from the start, and that the chunkch01 is allocated to the virtual volume v101.

FIG. 5E shows an example of the parity group table 22700 that indicateswhich parity group 29000 configures the real volumes 25000 and thepooled volumes 27000 in the storage system. The parity group table 22700is composed of a parity group ID (abbreviated to PG ID) 22705 in which aparity group ID that is the unique identifier of one of the paritygroups 29000 in the storage system 20000 is registered, an associatedHDD 22710 in which multiple hard disks (abbreviated to HDD) configuringa RAID is registered, a usage 22715 in which a value indicating whetherthe volumes configured as the parity group is to be used as a “realvolume” or a “pooled volume” is registered, and a volume ID 22720 inwhich the ID of the volume configured by the parity group is registered.

The following describes the meaning of the records in FIG. 5E with therecord, which includes PG01 in the parity group ID 22705, as an example.This record indicates that PG01 is a parity group that can configure areal volume configured by the RAID of four HDDs a0, a1, a2, and a3 andthat the real volume v001 is defined.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the system table included in the managementcomputer 40000.

The system table 43100 is used to identify the storage system 20000 tobe processed by the virtual volume configuration program in themanagement computer 40000. This table is composed of a system ID 43110in which a system ID for uniquely identifying a system in the computersystem is registered, a system type 43120 in which the type of thesystem is registered, system information 43130 in which detailedinformation on the system such as the vendor name, model name, andserial number of the system is registered, and an IP address 43140 inwhich the IP address used for communication with the management port ofthe system is registered. The information may also be registered inadvance by the system administrator via the management computer 40000 orthe management client 70000. The information may also be createdautomatically using the name service on the storage network ormanagement network.

The configuration of the computer system in the first embodiment is asdescribed above.

Next, the following describes the general operation of the storagesystem in the first embodiment with focus on virtual volume data accessprocessing and the virtual volume migration processing involved in thevirtual volume data access processing.

The data access processing and the virtual volume migration processingare implemented when the controller 21000 in the storage system 20000executes the virtual volume control program 22111 and the virtual volumemigration program 22120 respectively. The following gives thedescription of the operation of the controller 21000 when the virtualvolume control program 22111 is executed followed by the description ofthe operation of the controller 21000 when the virtual volume migrationprogram 22120 is executed.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the controller 21000 inthe first embodiment when the virtual volume control program 22111 isexecuted.

First, the controller 21000 creates virtual volumes (step S10000).

Now, turning to FIG. 8, the following describes an example of virtualvolume creation. The processor 41000 of the management computer 40000executes the input/output program to display a virtual volume creationscreen 90000 such as the one shown in FIG. 8. The virtual volumecreation screen 90000 has a system entry field 90010 in which the nameof a storage system where a virtual volume is to be created is entered,a PID entry field 90015 in which the PID that is the ID of the I/O port23000 is entered to allow the host computer to access the virtualvolume, a LUN entry field 90020 in which a LUN that is a SCSI LU numberis entered, a capacity entry field 90025 in which the virtual capacityof the virtual volume is entered, a threshold entry field 90030 in whicha data migration threshold that will be described later is entered, anda creation button 90040 used to send a virtual volume creation requestto the storage system based on the values entered in the system entryfield 90010, PID entry field 90015, LUN entry field 90020, capacityentry field 90025, and threshold entry field 90030.

The storage administrator fills in all those entry fields and pressesthe button. For example, if the storage administrator enters theparameters shown in FIG. 8 to create a virtual volume, the processor41000 of the management computer 40000 creates a virtual volume in thestorage system ST1 where the virtual capacity is 10 GB, the datamigration threshold is 6 GB that is 60% of the virtual capacity, the PIDof the system in which the virtual volume is allocated is p1, and theLUN of the system in which the virtual volume is allocated is 1.

Returning to the description of step S10000 in FIG. 7, the controller21000 of the storage system 20000 receives the virtual volume creationrequest, including the setting information such as the virtual volumecapacity, the host computer to which the virtual volume is allocated,and the threshold indicating the maximum allowable chunk allocation,from the management computer and creates a virtual volume according tothe virtual volume creation request.

The controller 21000 of the storage system 20000 executes this stepS10000 when a virtual volume is created. The controller 21000 of thestorage system 20000 executes the step S10010 and the subsequent stepseach time a virtual volume access request is generated from the hostcomputer.

Next, the controller 21000 receives a virtual volume access request fromthe host computer. More specifically, the controller 21000 receives avirtual volume data read/write SCSI command issued by the host computer.This access request includes information on the virtual volume and theLBA to or from which data is to be written or read (step S10010).

Next, the controller 21000 checks if the storage area requested by theaccess request received in step S10010 is already allocated. If theaccess request is a read request, the controller 21000 judges that thestorage area requested by the access request is already allocated. Ifthe access request is a write request, the controller 21000 checks theinformation on the write to virtual volume and the LBA included in theaccess request received in step S100010 to see if the LBA entry of thevirtual volume is included in the virtual volume addressing table 22500(step S10020).

If the LBA entry of the virtual volume is found in step S10020, thestorage area is already allocated and, so, the controller 21000 passescontrol to step S10060.

If the LBA entry of the virtual volume is not found in step S10020, thestorage area is not allocated and therefore the controller 21000 checksif the threshold for virtual volume migration program execution isexceeded. More specifically, if the total capacity, generated by addingthe capacity of a newly allocated chunk to the assigned capacity 22325,does not exceed the threshold 22320, the controller 21000 determinesthat the threshold is not exceeded and passes control to step S10040. Ifthe total capacity exceeds the threshold 22320, the controller 21000determines that the threshold is exceeded and passes control to stepS10080 (step S10030).

If the threshold 22320 is exceeded in step S10030, the controller 21000executes the virtual volume migration program 22120 to migrate thevirtual volume data (step S10080) and passes control to step S10060. Thevirtual volume migration program 22120 will be described later indetail.

If the total capacity does not exceed the threshold in step S10030, thecontroller 21000 checks if the volume pool for virtual volumes includesunallocated chunks. More specifically, the controller 21000 checks thepool 22510 in the entry of the access-requested virtual volume in thevirtual volume addressing table 22500 to see in which volume pool forvirtual volumes the virtual volume stores data. Next, based on the ID ofthe volume pool for virtual volumes, the controller 21000 checks thevirtual volume allocation status 22625 of the chunk entries registeredin the volume pool table for virtual volumes 22600 and searches for achunk not allocated to any virtual volume (step S10040).

If a chunk unallocated to a virtual volume is not found in step S10040,all storage areas in the volume pool for virtual volumes are allocatedand, therefore, the controller 21000 returns an error response to theaccess request, received in step S10010, to the host computer (stepS10070) and terminates the program.

If a chunk unallocated to a virtual volume is found in step S10040, thecontroller 21000 allocates the unallocated chunk, detected in stepS10040, to the virtual volume. More specifically, in the volume pooltable for virtual volumes 22600, the controller 21000 changes thevirtual volume allocation status 22625 of the detected unallocated chunkfrom “Unallocated” to “Allocated” and, in addition, registers theaccess-requested virtual volume specified by the access request,received in step S10010, as the virtual volume to which the chunk isallocated. In addition, in the virtual volume addressing table 22500,the controller 21000 adds the allocated LBA in the access-requestedvirtual volume specified by the access request, received in step S10010,and registers the unallocated chunk, detected in step S10040, as theallocated chunk corresponding to the allocated LBA. In addition, in thevirtual volume table 22300, the controller 21000 updates the assignedcapacity of the access-requested virtual volume specified by the accessrequest, received in step S10010, to the value calculated by adding thecapacity of the unallocated chunk, detected in step S10040, to theassigned capacity (step S10050).

Next, the controller 21000 returns a response to the access requestreceived in step S10010. More specifically, the controller 21000references the virtual volume addressing table 22500 based on theinformation on the access-requested virtual volume and the LBA specifiedby the access request, received in step S10010, to find the pool and theassigned chunk corresponding to the access-requested volume and the LBA.In addition, based on the pool and the assigned chunk, the controller21000 references the volume pool table for virtual volumes 22600 to findthe pooled volume and the LBA corresponding to the pool and the assignedchunk. After that, the controller 21000 reads data from, or writes datato, the LBA in the pooled volume based on the access request received instep S10010. Finally, the controller 21000 returns the data read/writeresult as the response to the access request (step S10060). After that,the controller 21000 terminates the processing.

The controller 21000 performs the operation described above when thevirtual volume control program 22111 is executed.

FIG. 9 shows the operation of the controller 21000 executed when thevirtual volume migration program 22120 is executed in the firstembodiment. In the description below, the virtual volume, from whichdata is migrated in step S10080 of the virtual volume control program22111, is called a migration source virtual volume.

First, the controller 21000 searches the real volumes 25000 for amigration candidate of the virtual volume. More specifically, thecontroller 21000 searches the real volume table 22200 for a real volumethat has a capacity equal to or larger than that of the migration sourcevirtual volume 26000 and that is not allocated to the host computer.Whether a real volume has a capacity equal to or larger than the virtualcapacity of the migration source virtual volume 26000 is determined bycomparing the value of the capacity 22215 with the value of the virtualcapacity of the migration source virtual volume. Whether a real volumeis not allocated to the host computer is determined by checking if thevalue of the host allocation status 22210 is “Unallocated”. If multiplereal volume candidates, each of which has a capacity equal to or largerthan the virtual capacity of the migration source virtual volume 26000and is not allocated to the host computer, are found in this step, oneof the methods may be used to select one of the real volume candidates.For example, the multiple candidates may be output to the output unit ofthe management computer or the management client to allow the storageadministrator to select one of them. Alternatively, the real volumedetected first by the controller 21000 may be used as the real volumecandidate. In the description below, one real volume selected in thisstep as the migration destination is called a migration destination realvolume (step S20000).

Next, the controller 21000 places the migration source virtual volumeand the migration destination real volume determined in step S20000 intothe migration status. More specifically, the controller 21000 copies thevalue of the host allocation status 22310 of the migration sourcevirtual volume in the virtual volume table 22300 to the host allocationstatus 22210 of the migration destination real volume in the real volumetable 22200. Next, the controller 21000 changes the host allocationstatus 22310 of the migration source virtual volume in the virtualvolume table 22300 to a new value “In Migration” that indicates that thevolume is in the migration status. At this time, the controller 21000also stores the ID of the migration destination real volume (stepS20010).

Next, the controller 21000 migrates data from the migration sourcevirtual volume to the migration destination real volume. Morespecifically, the controller 21000 uses the virtual volume addressingtable 22500 to extract a set of the LBA allocated to the migrationsource virtual volume and the chunk corresponding to the allocated LBA.In the description below, let X be the allocated LBA, and let Y be thechunk corresponding to the allocated LBA. Next, the controller 21000uses the set (X, Y) and the volume pool table for virtual volumes 22600to determine to which LBA of which pooled volume the chunk Y correspondsand creates a set (X, Y, pooled volume corresponding to Y, LBAcorresponding to Y). Next, for the set (X, Y, pooled volumecorresponding to Y, LBA corresponding to Y), the controller 21000 copiesthe data at the LBA, which corresponds to Y, in the pooled volume, whichcorresponds to Y, to the LBA X of the real volume. Next, the controller21000 uses the volume pool table for virtual volumes 22600 to change theallocation status of the virtual volume at LBA, which corresponds to thecopied Y, in the pooled volume, which corresponds to the copied Y, to“Unallocated”. Finally, the controller 21000 uses the virtual volumeaddressing table 22500 to delete the entry of (X, Y). The controller21000 repeats the above processing until no more set of the allocatedLBA and the chunk corresponding to the allocated LBA is found in themigration source volume (step S20020).

Finally, the controller 21000 deletes the migration source virtualvolume from which data has been migrated. More specifically, thecontroller 21000 deletes the entry of the migration source virtualvolume whose status was changed to the migration status in step S20010(step S20030).

The controller 21000 performs the operation described above when thevirtual volume migration program 22120 is executed. The controller 21000executes the processing flow shown in FIG. 9 to migrate data from avirtual volume to a real volume so that access data to the virtualvolume is continued even when its threshold is exceeded.

Next, to describe more in detail the operation of the controller 21000performed when the virtual volume control program 22111 in FIG. 7 andthe virtual volume migration program 22120 in FIG. 9 are executed, thefollowing describes the state transition of management informationstored in the storage system 20000 with reference to FIG. 5, FIG. 10,FIG. 11, and FIG. 12.

In FIG. 5, when the host computer 10000 issues an access request to therange LBA “8 GB to 10 GB” of the virtual volume v101 in the storagesystem 20000, the controller 21000 in the storage system 20000 executesthe virtual volume control program 22111 in FIG. 7.

The controller 21000 receives the access request in step S10010.

Next, because the area specified by the access request issued to thevirtual volume v101 is in the range of the LBA “8 GB to 10 GB”, thecontroller 21000 judges in step S10020 that no storage area is allocatedto the access area and, so, passes control to step S10030.

Next, in step S10030, the controller 21000 judges that an attempt toallocate an area to the virtual volume v101 will exceed the thresholdand, so, passes control to step S10080.

Next, in step S10080, the controller 21000 executes the virtual volumemigration program 22120.

Next, according to the flow of the virtual volume migration program22120, the controller 21000 determines the migration destination realvolume v001 in step S20000. In addition, in step S20010, the controller21000 places the migration source virtual volume v101 and the migrationdestination real volume v001 into the migration status. As a result, thestatus of the five tables (real volume table 22200, virtual volume table22300, virtual volume addressing table 22500, volume pool table forvirtual volumes 22600, and parity group table 22700) provided in thestorage system 20000 is changed from the status (FIG. 5A, FIG. 5B, FIG.5C, FIG. 5D, and FIG. 5E) to the status (FIG. 10A, FIG. 10B, FIG. 5C,FIG. 5D, and FIG. 5E). More specifically, the controller 21000 copiesthe host allocation status of the virtual volume v101 to the hostallocation status of the real volume v001 in the real volume table 22200as shown in FIG. 10A. This allows the access-requested location to beswitched without requesting the host computer 10000 to change the PID(ID of I/O port 23000) and the LUN (SCSI LUN number) that indicate theaccess-requested location. In addition, the controller 21000 updates thehost allocation status of the virtual volume v101 in the virtual volumetable 22300 to “In migration” as shown in FIG. 10B.

Next, in step S20020, the controller 21000 migrates data from themigration source virtual volume v101 to the migration destination realvolume v001. For example, when the data in the range LBA “4 GB to 6 GB”of the migration source virtual volume v101 is migrated, the status ofthe five tables (real volume table 22200, virtual volume table 22300,virtual volume addressing table 22500, volume pool table for virtualvolumes 22600, and parity group table 22700) provided in the storagesystem 20000 is changed from the status (FIG. 10A, FIG. 10B, FIG. 5C,FIG. 5D, and FIG. 5E) to the status (FIG. 10A, FIG. 11A, FIG. 11B, FIG.11C, and FIG. 5E). More specifically, the controller 21000 migrates theLBA “4 GB to 6 GB” of the migration source virtual volume viol, updatesthe virtual volume table 22300 as shown in FIG. 11A, deletes the LBA “4GB to 6 GB” from the virtual volume addressing table 22500 and updatesthe table as shown in FIG. 11B, and updates the volume pool table forvirtual volumes 22600 as shown in FIG. 11C. After that, the controller21000 migrates data of the LBA “0 GB to 2 GB” and “2 GB to 4 GB” of themigration source virtual volume v101.

Next, when all data is migrated in step S20020, the controller 21000deletes the migration source virtual volume v101 in step S20030. As aresult, the status of the five tables (real volume table 22200, virtualvolume table 22300, virtual volume addressing table 22500, volume pooltable for virtual volumes 22600, and parity group table 22700) providedin the storage system 20000 is changed from the status (FIG. 10A, FIG.11A, FIG. 11B, FIG. 11C, and FIG. 5E) to the status (FIG. 10A, FIG. 12A,FIG. 12B, FIG. 12C, and FIG. 5E). More specifically, the controller21000 deletes the entry of the virtual volume v101 from the virtualvolume table 22300 and updates the table as shown in FIG. 12A. Inaddition, the controller 21000 deletes all entries of the virtual volumev101 from the virtual volume addressing table 22500 and updates thetable as shown in FIG. 12B. The controller 21000 also deletes allentries of the virtual volume v101 from the volume pool table forvirtual volumes 22600 and updates the table as shown in FIG. 12C.

Next, the controller 21000 terminates the flow of the virtual volumemigration program 22120, passes control back to the flow of the virtualvolume control program 22111, and passes control to step S10060.

Next, in step S10060, the controller 21000 returns a response to therequest from the host computer 10000 to access the range of the LBA “8GB to 10 GB” of the virtual volume v101 in the storage system 20000 as aresponse to the request to access the range of the LBA “8 GB to 10 GB”of the real volume v001. Then, the flow of the virtual volume controlprogram 22111 is terminated.

As described above in the general operation, the storage system migratesdata from a virtual volume, whose threshold is exceeded, to a realvolume to allow the computer system to continue the operation withoutstopping the data access from the host computer.

In this embodiment, when the virtual volume control program 22111 callsthe virtual volume migration program 22120, the controller 21000 of thestorage system 20000 returns a response to the access request in stepS10060 of the virtual volume control program 22111 after the completionof the data migration from the migration source virtual volume to themigration destination real volume in step S20020 and the deletion of themigration source virtual volume in step S20030 of the virtual volumemigration program 22120. Instead, it is also possible to execute stepS20020 and step S20030 of the virtual volume migration program 22120concurrently with the execution of the virtual volume control program22111.

That is, when the virtual volume control program 22111 calls the virtualvolume migration program 22120, the controller 21000 of the storagesystem 20000 prepares for switching the location, which is accessed bythe host computer, to the real volume in step S20000 and step S20010.After the preparation is completed, the controller 21000 starts a childprocess that executes the data migration processing in step S20020 andthe virtual volume deletion processing in step S20030 in the virtualvolume migration program 22120. In addition, the controller 21000returns control back to step S10060 of the virtual volume controlprogram 22111 and returns a response to the access request. By doing so,the controller 21000 can return a response to the access from the hostcomputer to the volume without waiting for the completion of the datamigration from the virtual volume to the real volume and the deletion ofthe virtual volume.

(First Modification)

Next, the following describes the general operation of the storagesystem in a first modification of the first embodiment.

The first modification differs from the first embodiment in that thecontroller 21000 searches the pooled volumes for a migration destinationcandidate during the execution of the virtual volume migration program22120, changes the migration destination candidate pooled volume to areal volume, and moves data from the migration source virtual volume tothe real volume.

FIG. 13 shows the operation of the controller 21000 when the virtualvolume migration program 22120 is executed in the first modification ofthe embodiment.

First, the controller 21000 searches the pooled volumes 27000 for themigration destination candidate of the virtual volume. Morespecifically, the controller 21000 searches the volume pool table forvirtual volumes 22600 for a pooled volume having a capacity equal to orlarger than the virtual capacity of the migration source virtual volume26000. Whether a pooled volume has a capacity equal to or larger thanthe virtual capacity of the migration source virtual volume 26000 isdetermined by comparing the value of the pooled volume capacity in thepooled volume 22615 with the value of the virtual capacity of themigration source virtual volume. If multiple pooled volume candidates,each of which has a capacity equal to or larger than the virtualcapacity of the migration source virtual volume 26000, are found in thisstep, one of the methods may be used to select one of the pooled volumecandidates. For example, the multiple candidates may be output to theoutput unit of the management computer or the management client to allowthe storage administrator to select one of them. Alternatively, thepooled volume detected first by the controller 21000 may be used as thepooled volume candidate. A pooled volume in the pool, for which thecontroller 21000 can perform data migration that will be described laterwith the minimum processing, may also be selected as the pooled volumecandidate. In the description below, one pooled volume selected in thisstep as the migration destination is called a migration destinationpooled volume (step S21000).

Next, the controller 21000 migrates the data of the migrationdestination pooled volume. More specifically, the controller 21000searches the volume pool table for virtual volumes 22600 for one LBA ofthe migration destination pooled volume that is allocated to the virtualvolume. Let X be this LBA. The controller 21000 searches the volume pooltable for virtual volumes 22600 for an LBA that belongs to a pooledvolume other than the migration destination pooled volume and that isnot allocated to any virtual volume. Let Y be this LBA. The controller21000 copies the data of X to Y. After completion of the copy, thecontroller 21000 exchanges the virtual volume allocation status of X forthat of Y. In addition, the controller 21000 searches the volume pooltable for virtual volumes 22600 for the chunk IDs corresponding to X andY and, in the virtual volume addressing table 22500, updates theassigned chunk 22520, in which the chunk ID corresponding to X isstored, to the chunk ID corresponding to Y. The controller 21000references the volume pool table for virtual volumes 22600 to repeat theabove processing until all the LBAs, allocated to the virtual volume andincluded in the migration destination pooled volume, are processed (stepS21010).

Next, the controller 21000 changes the migration destination pooledvolume to a real volume. More specifically, the controller 21000 createsa new entry in the real volume table 22200 for the migration destinationpooled volume and deletes the entry of the migration destination pooledvolume from the volume pool table for virtual volumes 22600. Inaddition, in the parity group table 22700, the controller 21000 changesthe usage 22715 of the parity group, to which the migration destinationvolume belongs, to a real volume. After executing this step, themigration destination pooled volume is changed to a migrationdestination real volume (step S21020).

Next, the controller 21000 migrates data from the migration sourcevirtual volume to the migration destination real volume (step S20020)and deletes the migration source virtual volume (step S20030). Thosesteps are the same as those in the virtual volume migration program flowin FIG. 9 and, therefore, the description is omitted.

The controller 21000 performs the operation described above when thevirtual volume migration program 22120 is executed. By executing theprocessing flow in FIG. 13, the controller 21000 searches the pooledvolumes for a migration destination candidate pooled volume, changes themigration destination candidate pooled volume to a real volume, andmigrates data from the virtual volume to the real volume. This sequenceof steps enables a data access to the virtual volume to be continuedeven when its threshold is exceeded.

Next, to describe more in detail the operation of the controller 21000performed when the virtual volume migration program 22120 in FIG. 13 isexecuted, the following describes the state transition of managementinformation stored in the storage system 20000 with reference to FIG. 5and FIG. 14.

Based on the flow of the virtual volume migration program 22120, thecontroller 21000 determines v203 as the migration destination pooledvolume in step S21000.

Next, in step S21010, the controller 21000 migrates data from themigration destination pooled volume v203. In this case, because there isno data to be migrated, no data is migrated.

Next, in step S21020, the controller 21000 changes the migrationdestination pooled volume v203 to a real volume.

Finally, in step S20020 and step S20030, the controller 21000 migratesdata from the migration source virtual volume v101 to the migrationdestination real volume v203 and, after all data is migrated, deletesthe migration source virtual volume v101.

As a result, the status of the five tables (real volume table 22200,virtual volume table 22300, virtual volume addressing table 22500,volume pool table for virtual volumes 22600, and parity group table22700) provided in the storage system 20000 is changed from the status(FIG. 5A, FIG. 5B, FIG. 5C, FIG. 5D, and FIG. 5E) to the status (FIG.14A, FIG. 14B, FIG. 14C, FIG. 14D, and FIG. 14E). More specifically, thecontroller 21000 creates a new entry in the real volume table 22200 forthe real volume v203, migrates data of the virtual volume v101, andupdates the table as shown in FIG. 14A. In addition, the controller21000 deletes the entry of the virtual volume v101 from the virtualvolume table 22300 and updates the table as shown in FIG. 14B. Inaddition, the controller 21000 deletes the entry of the virtual volumev101 from the virtual volume addressing table 22500 and updates thetable as shown in FIG. 14C. In addition the controller 21000 deletes theentry of the pooled volume v203 from the volume pool table for virtualvolumes 22600 and updates the table as shown in FIG. 14D. In addition,the controller 21000 changes the usage of the parity group PG06, towhich the volume v203 belongs, to a real volume in the parity grouptable 22700 and updates the table as shown in FIG. 14E.

The general operation of the storage system in the first modification ofthe first embodiment is as described above.

As described above in the general operation, even when there is notenough unallocated real volumes, the storage system changes a pooledvolume to a real volume and migrates data from a virtual volume, whosethreshold is exceeded, to the real volume to allow the computer systemto continue the operation without stopping a data access from the hostcomputer.

In this embodiment, when the virtual volume control program 22111 callsthe virtual volume migration program 22120, the controller 21000 of thestorage system 20000 returns a response to the access request in stepS10060 of the virtual volume control program 22111 after the completionof the data migration from the migration source virtual volume to themigration destination real volume in step S20020 and the deletion of themigration source virtual volume in step S20030 of the virtual volumemigration program 22120. Instead, it is also possible to execute stepS20020 and step S20030 of the virtual volume migration program 22120concurrently with the execution of the virtual volume control program22111. That is, when the virtual volume control program 22111 calls thevirtual volume migration program 22120, the controller 21000 of thestorage system 20000 prepares for switching the location, which isaccessed by the host computer, to the real volume in step S21000, stepS21010, and step S21020. After the preparation is completed, thecontroller 21000 starts a child process that executes the data migrationprocessing in step S20020 and the virtual volume deletion processing instep S20030 in the virtual volume migration program 22120. In addition,the controller 21000 returns control back to step S10060 of the virtualvolume control program 22111 and returns a response to the accessrequest. By doing so, the controller 21000 can return a response to theaccess from the host computer to the volume without waiting for thecompletion of the data migration from the virtual volume to the realvolume and the deletion of the virtual volume.

(Second Modification)

Next, the following describes the general operation of the storagesystem in a second modification of the first embodiment.

The second modification differs from the first embodiment in that thecontroller 21000 searches the pooled volumes in the volume pool forvirtual volumes, to which the virtual volume belongs before themigration (this pool is called a first volume pool for virtual volumes),for a migration destination candidate during the execution of thevirtual volume migration program 22120, changes the configuration insuch a way that the migration destination candidate pooled volume newlyconstitutes a second volume pool for virtual volumes, and continues theoperation of the virtual volume.

FIG. 15 shows the operation of the controller 21000 during the executionof the virtual volume migration program 22120 in the second modificationof the first embodiment.

First, the controller 21000 searches the pooled volumes 27000 for themigration destination candidate of the virtual volume. Morespecifically, the controller 21000 searches the volume pool table forvirtual volumes 22600 for a pooled volume, for which the controller21000 can perform data migration that will be described later with theminimum processing, and determines the pooled volume as the pooledvolume candidate. As the method for selecting the pooled volumecandidate, the pooled volume detected first by the controller 21000 maybe used as the pooled volume candidate. Alternatively, the multiplecandidates may be output to the output unit of the management computeror the management client to allow the storage administrator to selectone of them. The virtual volume migration candidate selection differsfrom that of the first modification in that the virtual capacity of themigration source virtual volume 26000 is not used for selecting thepooled volume candidate. In the description below, one pooled volumeselected in this step as the migration destination is called a migrationdestination pooled volume (step S22000).

Next, the controller 21000 migrates the data of the migrationdestination pooled volume. Note that, in this step, the controller 21000migrates data, which is the virtual volume data stored in the migrationdestination pooled volume but is not the data of the migration sourcevirtual volume, to another pooled volume and, in addition, migrates themigration source virtual volume data, which is stored in a pooled volumeother than the migration destination pooled volume, to the migrationdestination pooled volume. The data migration operation of thecontroller 21000 is the same as that in step S21010 in the firstmodification. Therefore, the detailed description is omitted (stepS22010).

Finally, the controller 21000 newly creates a second volume pool forvirtual volumes to which the migration destination pooled volume is tobelong. More specifically, in the volume pool table for virtual volumes22600, the controller 21000 creates an entry for the second volume poolfor virtual volumes, registers the migration destination pooled volumeas a pooled volume belonging to the second volume pool for virtualvolumes, and deletes the migration destination pooled volume from thepooled volume entries of the first volume pool for virtual volumes. Inaddition, in the virtual volume addressing table 22500, the controller21000 changes the pool, to which the migration source virtual volumebelongs, to the second volume pool for virtual volumes (step S22020).

The controller 21000 performs the operation described above when thevirtual volume migration program 22120 is executed. By executing theprocessing flow in FIG. 15, the controller 21000 allows the hostcomputer to continue the data access while continuing the virtual volumeoperation.

Next, to describe more in detail the operation of the controller 21000performed when the virtual volume migration program 22120 in FIG. 15 isexecuted, the following describes the state transition of managementinformation stored in the storage system 20000 with reference to FIG. 5,FIG. 16, and FIG. 17.

Based on the flow of the virtual volume migration program 22120, thecontroller 21000 determines v201 as the migration destination pooledvolume in step S22000.

Next, in step S22010, the controller 21000 migrates data, which is thevirtual volume data stored in the migration destination pooled volumev201 but is not the data of the migration source virtual volume v101, toanother pooled volume and, in addition, migrates the data of themigration source virtual volume viol, which is stored in a pooled volumeother than the migration destination pooled volume v201, to themigration destination pooled volume v201.

As a result, the status of the five tables (real volume table 22200,virtual volume table 22300, virtual volume addressing table 22500,volume pool table for virtual volumes 22600, and parity group table22700) provided in the storage system 20000 is changed from the status(FIG. 5A, FIG. 5B, FIG. 5C, FIG. 5D, and FIG. 5E) to the status (FIG.5A, FIG. 5B, FIG. 16A, FIG. 16B, and FIG. 5E). More specifically, in thevolume pool table for virtual volumes 22600, the controller 21000migrates the data of the chunk ch04 stored in the migration destinationpooled volume v201 to the chunk ch08 and migrates the data of the chunkch05 to the chunk ch09. The result is as shown in FIG. 16B. In addition,in the virtual volume addressing table 22500, the controller 21000updates the assigned chunk of the virtual volume v102 to ch08 andupdates the assigned chunk of the virtual volume v103 to ch09. Theresult is as shown in FIG. 16A.

Finally, in step S22020, the controller 21000 newly creates a secondvolume pool for virtual volumes p2 to which the migration destinationpooled volume v201 is to belong.

As a result, the status of the five tables (real volume table 22200,virtual volume table 22300, virtual volume addressing table 22500,volume pool table for virtual volumes 22600, and parity group table22700) provided in the storage system 20000 is changed from the status(FIG. 5A, FIG. 5B, FIG. 16A, FIG. 16B, and FIG. 5E) to the status (FIG.5A, FIG. 5B, FIG. 17A, FIG. 17B, and FIG. 5E). More specifically, in thevolume pool table for virtual volumes 22600, the controller 21000creates an entry for the second volume pool for virtual volumes p2,registers the migration destination pooled volume v201 as a pooledvolume belonging to p2, and deletes the migration destination pooledvolume v201 from the pool volume entries of the first volume pool forvirtual volumes p1. The result is as shown in FIG. 17B. In addition, inthe virtual volume addressing table 22500, the controller 21000 changesthe pool, to which the migration source virtual volume viol belongs, tothe second volume pool for virtual volumes p2. The result is as shown inFIG. 17A.

The general operation of the storage system in the second modificationof the first embodiment is as described above.

As described above in the general operation, even when there is notenough unallocated real volumes and pooled volumes, the storage systemnewly creates a second volume pool for virtual volumes and continues theoperation of a virtual volume, whose threshold is exceeded, to allow thecomputer system to continue the operation without stopping a data accessfrom the host computer.

The first embodiment has been described.

In the first embodiment, the storage system migrates data of a virtualvolume, whose threshold is exceeded, to allow the computer system tocontinue the operation without stopping a data access from the hostcomputer.

Second Embodiment

In a second embodiment, a virtual volume configuration program is addedto the management computer in the configuration of the first embodiment.Based on the data migration method specified by a storage administratorwhen a virtual volume is created, the processor of the managementcomputer executes the virtual volume configuration program to select oneof the multiple data migration methods described in the aboveembodiment. The following describes how the data migration method isselected.

First, the configuration of a computer system and the general operationof a storage system in the second embodiment will be described.

The following describes the configuration of the computer systemconfiguration in the second embodiment. FIGS. 18-20 show theconfiguration of the computer system and the configuration of thedevices connected to the computer system. The following describes onlythe part of the configuration of the computer system in the secondembodiment that is different from that in the first embodiment. The partof the configuration not mentioned is the same as that of theconventional system.

FIG. 18 shows an example of the configuration of the computer system inthe second embodiment. The second embodiment differs from the firstembodiment in that a storage system 20000 has a virtual volume controlprogram 22112 that performs processing different from that in the firstembodiment and in that a management computer 40000 has a virtual volumeconfiguration program 42201 that performs processing different from thatin the first embodiment. The detail will be described later.

FIG. 19 shows an example of the configuration of the storage system inthe second embodiment.

Unlike the first embodiment, a part of a microcode program 22100 in amemory 22000 includes a virtual volume control program 22112 and avirtual volume migration program 22120 of the second embodiment. Thosevirtual volume control program 22112 and the virtual volume migrationprogram 22120 are also read from a storage medium (not shown), such as ahard disk, when the storage system is started.

FIG. 20 shows an example of the configuration of the management computerin the second embodiment.

Unlike the first embodiment, a memory 42000 includes the virtual volumeconfiguration program 42201 for setting a virtual volume and determininga virtual volume migration condition and a virtual volume migrationmethod management table 43200 for managing the received virtual volumemigration methods. The virtual volume configuration program 42201 isimplemented when a processor 41000 reads it from a storage medium (notshown), such as a hard disk, into the memory 42000. The virtual volumesetting processing of the virtual volume configuration program 42201 isthe same as that in the first embodiment. Therefore the detaileddescription of the flow is omitted. The virtual volume migration methodmanagement table 43200 will be described later. The processing fordetermining the virtual volume migration method will also be describedlater.

The configuration of the computer system in the second embodiment hasbeen described.

Next, the following describes the general operation of the computersystem in the second embodiment with focus on the data access processingfor a virtual volume.

The data access processing is implemented when a controller 21000 in thestorage system 20000 executes the virtual volume control program 22112.Therefore, the following describes the operation of the controller 21000that is performed when the virtual volume control program 22112 isexecuted.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing the operation of the controller 21000when the virtual volume control program 22112 is executed in the secondembodiment. Note that, in the description of the virtual volume controlprogram 22112 in the second embodiment, only the difference from thevirtual volume control program 22111 in the first embodiment will bedescribed. The operation not mentioned below is the same as that of thevirtual volume control program 22111 in the first embodiment.

First, the controller 21000 creates a virtual volume. An actual examplewill be described with reference to FIG. 22. The processor 41000 of themanagement computer 40000 executes the virtual volume configurationprogram to display a virtual volume creation screen 90000 such as theone shown in FIG. 22A. The difference from the virtual volume creationscreen 90000 in the first embodiment is that a migration method entryfield 90035 is added for receiving the data migration method of thevirtual volume. The data migration method entered in the migrationmethod entry field 90035 can be managed on a virtual volume basis asshown in FIG. 22B. For example, when a storage administrator enters theparameters shown in FIG. 22A to create a virtual volume, the processor41000 of the management computer 40000 creates a virtual volume in thestorage system ST1 wherein the virtual capacity is 10 GB, the datamigration threshold is 6 GB that is 60% of the virtual capacity, theassigned PID is p1, the assigned LUN is 1 and, as the virtual volumedata migration method, the method for migrating data to a real volume isselected (step S10000).

Step S10010, step S10020, step S10030, step S10040, step S10050, stepS10060, step S10070, and step S10080 are the same as those in the firstembodiment. The description is omitted.

If a threshold 22320 is exceeded in step S10030, the controller 21000inquires the virtual volume configuration program of the managementcomputer 40000 about the virtual volume data migration method todetermine the virtual volume data migration method. The data migrationmethod mentioned here is one of the virtual volume migration program inthe first embodiment, the virtual volume migration program in the firstmodification of the first embodiment, and the virtual volume migrationprogram in the second modification of the first embodiment (stepS10090).

Next, according to the virtual volume data migration method that isreturned from the management computer 40000 as a response, thecontroller 21000 executes the virtual volume migration program (stepS10080).

The operation of the controller 21000 performed when the virtual volumecontrol program 22112 is executed is as described above.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart showing the operation of the processor 41000 ofthe management computer 40000 in the second embodiment when the virtualvolume configuration program 42201 is executed.

First, the processor 41000 receives the information on the migrationsource virtual volume from the storage system 20000 (step S30010).

Next, the processor 41000 determines the migration method of themigration source virtual volume obtained in step S30010. Morespecifically, the processor 41000 determines the virtual volume datamigration method shown in FIG. 22B, which was obtained in step S10000 ofthe virtual volume control program 22112 executed when the migrationsource virtual volume was created, as the data migration method of themigration source virtual volume (step S30020).

If it is found in step S30020 that “Migrate data to real volume” wasentered into the migration method entry field 90035 when the migrationsource virtual volume was created, the processor 41000 selects themethod, described in the first embodiment, in which data is migrated toan unused real volume (step S30030), sends the selected migration methodto the storage system 20000 as the response (step S30060), andterminates the program.

If it is found in step S30020 that “Change pooled volume to unused realvolume and migrate data” was entered into the migration method entryfield 90035 when the migration source virtual volume was created, theprocessor 41000 selects the method, described in the first modificationof the first embodiment, in which a pooled volume is changed to anunused real volume to which data is migrated (step S30040), sends theselected migration method to the storage system 20000 as the response(step S30060), and terminates the program.

If it is found in step S30020 that “Create new pool” was entered intothe migration method entry field 90035 when the migration source virtualvolume was created, the processor 41000 selects the method, described inthe second modification of the first embodiment, in which a new pool towhich data is migrated is created (step S30050), sends the selectedmigration method to the storage system 20000 as the response (stepS30060), and terminates the program.

As described in the general operation, the management computer issues aninstruction to migrate the data of a virtual volume, whose threshold isexceeded, using a method specified by a storage administrator in advanceto allow the computer system to continue the operation without stoppinga data access from the host computer.

(First Modification)

Next, the following describes a modification of the computer systemoperation in the second embodiment.

This modification differs from the second embodiment in that, when thevirtual volume migration method is determined, the processor 41000 ofthe management computer takes into consideration the capacity of anunallocated real volume and the capacity of a pooled volume in thevolume pool for virtual volumes at the time the migration method isdetermined.

The description of the operation of the controller 21000 during theexecution of the virtual volume control program 22112 in thismodification is omitted because the operation of the controller 21000 issimilar to that in the second embodiment. The only difference is thatthe processor 41000 of the management computer displays a virtual volumecreation screen 90000, such as the one shown in FIG. 24A, in stepS10000. The virtual volume creation screen in FIG. 24A differs from thatin FIG. 22A in that a storage administrator enters one of the followingtwo virtual volume data migration methods in the migration method entryfield 90035: “Priority on real volume” indicating that priority is onthe migration to an unallocated real volume and “Priority on pooledvolume” indicating that priority is on a pooled volume in a volume poolfor virtual volumes. The data migration method entered in the migrationmethod entry field 90035 is managed on a virtual volume basis, forexample, as shown in FIG. 24B. For example, when the storageadministrator creates a virtual volume with the parameters in FIG. 24Aas the input, the processor 41000 of the management computer 40000creates a virtual volume in the storage system ST1 where the virtualcapacity is 10 GB, the data migration threshold is 6 GB that is 60% ofthe virtual capacity, the assigned PID is p1, the assigned LUN is 1 and,when the data is migrated from the virtual volume, priority is placed onthe data migration to the real volume.

The operation of the controller 21000 during the execution of thevirtual volume control program 22112 is as described above.

FIG. 25 is a flowchart showing the operation of the processor 41000 ofthe management computer 40000 when the virtual volume configurationprogram 42201 is executed in this modification.

First, the processor 41000 monitors the status of the unused realvolumes and unused pool areas in the storage system 20000 at a regularinterval. More specifically, the processor 41000 obtains a list ofunused real volumes in the real volume table 22200, a list of pooledvolumes in the volume pool table for virtual volumes 22600, and a listof virtual volumes in the virtual volume table 22300 from the storagesystem 20000 (step S31005). The information obtained in this step isused in steps S31020, S31030, S31040, and S31050 that will be describedlater.

The processor 41000 receives migration source virtual volume informationfrom the storage system 20000 (step S30010).

Next, the processor 41000 determines a prioritized migration method thatwill be used when data is migrated from the migration source virtualvolume obtained in step S30010. More specifically, the processor 41000determines the virtual volume data migration method, which was obtainedin step S10000 of the virtual volume control program 22112 when themigration source virtual volume was created and which is shown in FIG.24B, as the prioritized migration method (step S31010).

If it is found in step S31010 that the prioritized migration method is“migration to real volume”, the processor 41000 checks if it is possibleto migrate data to an unused real volume in the storage system 20000(step S31020) and, if possible, passes control to step S30030. In thiscase, if a migration destination real volume can be selected from thelist of unused real volumes obtained regularly in step S31005, theprocessor 41000 determines that data can be migrated thereto. As analternative determination method, the processor 41000 can also determinethat data can be migrated to an unused real volume if its total capacityexceeds a predetermined threshold.

If data cannot be migrated to an unused real volume in step S31020, theprocessor 41000 checks if data can be migrated to a pooled volume (stepS31030). If data can be migrated, control is passed to step S30040;otherwise, control is passed to step S30050. In this case, if amigration destination pooled volume having a capacity exceeding thevirtual capacity of the migration source virtual volume can be selectedfrom the list of pooled volumes regularly obtained in step S31005, theprocessor 41000 determines that data can be migrated to the pooledvolume. If a migration destination pooled volume having a capacityexceeding the virtual capacity of the migration source virtual volumecannot be selected from the list of pooled volumes regularly obtained instep S31005, the processor 41000 determines that data cannot be migratedto the pooled volume.

If it is found in step S31010 that the prioritized migration method is“migration to pooled volume”, the processor 41000 checks if it ispossible to migrate data to a pooled volume (step S31040) and, ifpossible, passes control to step S30040. The processor 41000 checks ifdata can be migrated in step S31040 in the same way as in step S31030and, so, the description is omitted.

If data cannot be migrated to a pooled volume in step S31040, theprocessor 41000 checks if data can be migrated to a real volume (stepS31050). If data can be migrated, control is passed to step S30030;otherwise, control is passed to step S30050. The processor 41000 checksif data can be migrated in step S31050 in the same way as in step S31020and, so, the description is omitted.

Step S30030, step S30040, step S30050, and step S30060 are the same asthose in FIG. 23 and, so, the description is omitted.

As described in the general operation, the management computer monitorsthe capacity of an unallocated real volume and the capacity of anunallocated pooled volume at a regular interval and, if the virtualvolume threshold is exceeded, determines the data migration method basedon the capacity of the unallocated real volume, the capacity of thepooled volume, and the migration condition specified by the storageadministrator in advance. This allows the computer system to continuethe operation without stopping a data access from the host computer.

In the second embodiment described above, the storage system migratesthe data of a virtual volume, whose threshold is exceeded, according tothe data migration condition specified by the storage administrator inadvance, thus allowing the computer system to continue the operationwithout stopping a data access from the host computer.

According to the first embodiment and the second embodiment describedabove, a computer system, including even a large-scale data center, caneasily manage a large number of volumes.

It should be further understood by those skilled in the art thatalthough the foregoing description has been made on embodiments of theinvention, the invention is not limited thereto and various changes andmodifications may be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention and the scope of the appended claims.

1. A storage system connected to a plurality of computers, comprising:an interface unit connected to said plurality of computers via anetwork; a control unit connected to said interface unit; and aplurality of physical storage devices in which data used by saidplurality of computers is stored, wherein said control unit associatesat least one first physical storage device out of said plurality ofphysical storage devices with a first logical storage area and a secondlogical storage area, provides the first logical storage area to a firstcomputer out of said plurality of computers, and provides the secondlogical storage area to a second computer out of said plurality ofcomputers, and wherein, if a capacity of said first physical storagedevice associated with the first logical storage area is equal to orlower than a predetermined threshold, said control unit allocates a datastorage area, used by said first computer, from said first physicalstorage device in response to an access request from said first computerto the first logical storage area and if the capacity of said firstphysical storage device associated with the first logical storage areaexceeds the predetermined threshold, said control unit associates thefirst logical storage area with another physical storage devicedifferent from said first physical storage device associated with thesecond logical storage area, and allocates the data storage area used bysaid first computer from said another physical storage device to respondto the access request.
 2. The storage system according to claim 1,wherein, if the capacity of said first physical storage deviceassociated with the first logical storage area exceeds the predeterminedthreshold, said control unit migrates the data, stored in said firstphysical storage device associated with the first logical storage areaand used by said first computer, to said another physical storagedevice, which is one of said plurality of physical storage devices andhas a predetermined capacity, and allocates the data storage area, usedby said first computer, from said another physical storage device torespond to the access request.
 3. The storage system according to claim2, wherein the predetermined capacity of said another physical storagedevice matches a capacity of the first logical storage area recognizedby said first computer.
 4. The storage system according to claim 1,wherein, if the capacity of said first physical storage deviceassociated with the first logical storage area exceeds the predeterminedthreshold, said control unit allocates another storage area, which isdifferent from the storage area allocated on said first physical storagedevice and associated with the first and second logical areas, from saidanother physical storage device, which is different from said firstphysical storage device and has a predetermined capacity, migrates datacorresponding to the first logical storage area to said another storagearea, and allocates the data storage area used by said first computerfrom said another physical storage device to respond to the accessrequest.
 5. The storage system according to claim 1, wherein, if thecapacity of said first physical storage device associated with the firstlogical storage area exceeds the predetermined threshold, said controlunit identifies the storage area associated with the first logicalstorage area on said first physical storage device as a first grouphaving a predetermined capacity, identifies the storage area associatedwith the second logical storage area and a storage area allocated onsaid first physical storage device but not included in the first groupas a second group, and allocates the data storage area used by saidfirst computer from the first group on said first physical storagedevice to respond to the access request.
 6. The storage system accordingto claim 1, wherein said first physical storage device is a storage areapool and said control unit provides data storage areas to said pluralityof computers connected to said storage system.
 7. The storage systemaccording to claim 1, wherein said control unit sets the predeterminedthreshold of the capacity of said first physical storage device,associated with the first logical storage area and the second logicalstorage area, for the first logical storage area used by said firstcomputer and the second logical storage area used by said secondcomputer, respectively.
 8. The storage system according to claim 1,wherein said control unit uses a capacity value of write data includedin the access request from said first computer and a capacity value ofsaid first logical storage area to determine if the capacity of saidfirst physical storage device associated with the first logical storagearea exceeds the predetermined threshold.
 9. A computer systemcomprising a first computer, a second computer, a management computer,and a storage system connected to said first computer, said secondcomputer, and said management computer, wherein said storage systemcomprises: a plurality of physical storage devices; and a control unitthat associates at least one first physical storage device out of saidplurality of physical storage devices with a first logical storage areaand a second logical storage area, provides the first logical storagearea to said first computer out of said plurality of computers, andprovides the second logical storage area to said second computer out ofsaid plurality of computers, wherein said management computer comprisesmigration information identifying a migration method of data, said datacorresponding to the first and second logical storage areas in saidstorage system, said data being stored in the first and second logicalstorage areas, wherein, if a capacity of said first physical storagedevice associated with the first logical storage area used by said firstcomputer is equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold, saidcontrol unit allocates a data storage area, used by said first computer,from said first physical storage device in response to an access requestfrom said first computer to the first logical storage area and, if thecapacity of said first physical storage device associated with the firstlogical storage area exceeds the predetermined threshold, said controlunit inquires said management computer about a migration method of datain the first logical storage area, and wherein said management computersends a migration instruction to said storage system based on themigration information, said migration instruction indicating that thefirst logical storage area be associated with another physical storagedevice that is associated with the second logical storage area and isdifferent from said first physical storage device.
 10. The computersystem according to claim 9 wherein, if the capacity of said firstphysical storage device associated with the first logical storage areaexceeds the predetermined threshold, said management computer sends amigration instruction to said storage system, said migration instructionindicating that data stored in said first physical storage deviceassociated with the first logical storage area and used by said firstcomputer be migrated to said another physical storage device that is oneof said plurality of physical storage devices and has a predeterminedcapacity, and said control unit migrates data, used by said firstcomputer, to said another physical storage device based on the migrationinstruction and allocates the data storage area from said anotherphysical storage device to respond to the access request.
 11. Thecomputer system according to claim 10, wherein the predeterminedcapacity of said another physical storage device matches a capacity ofthe first logical storage area recognized by said first computer. 12.The computer system according to claim 9, wherein, if the capacity ofsaid first physical storage device associated with the first logicalstorage area exceeds the predetermined threshold, said managementcomputer sends a migration instruction indicating that the storage area,which is on said first physical storage device but not used by the firstand second computers, be allocated as another storage area from saidanother physical storage device, which is different from said firstphysical storage device and has a predetermined capacity, and that datacorresponding to said first logical storage area be migrated to saidanother storage area, and said control unit migrates data, used by saidfirst computer, to said another physical storage device based on themigration instruction and allocates the storage area of the data fromsaid another physical storage device to respond to the access request.13. The computer system according to claim 9, wherein, if the capacityof said first physical storage device associated with the first logicalstorage area exceeds the predetermined threshold, said managementcomputer sends a migration instruction indicating that the storage areaassociated with the first logical storage area on said first physicalstorage device be identified as a first group having a predeterminedcapacity and that the storage area associated with the second logicalstorage area and a storage area allocated on said first physical storagedevice but not included in the first group be identified as a secondgroup, and said control unit identifies data used by said first computeras the first group based on the migration instruction and allocates thedata storage area used by said first computer from the first group onsaid first physical storage device to respond to the access request. 14.The computer system according to claim 9, wherein said first physicalstorage device is a storage area pool and said control unit providesdata storage areas to said plurality of computers.
 15. The computersystem according to claim 9, wherein said control unit sets thepredetermined threshold of the capacity of said first physical storagedevice, associated with the first logical storage area and the secondlogical storage area, for the first logical storage area used by saidfirst computer and the second logical storage area used by said secondcomputer, respectively.
 16. The computer system according to claim 9,wherein said control unit uses a capacity value of write data includedin the access request from said first computer and a capacity value ofthe first logical storage area to determine if the capacity of saidfirst physical storage device associated with the first logical storagearea exceeds the predetermined threshold.
 17. The computer systemaccording to claim 9, wherein said management computer further comprisesa monitor unit that monitors a usage status of said plurality ofphysical storage devices in said storage system by said first and secondcomputers and, if the capacity of said first physical storage deviceassociated with the first logical storage area exceeds the predeterminedthreshold, said management computer sends a migration instruction tosaid storage system, said migration instruction indicating that anotherphysical storage device, which is one of said plurality of physicalstorage devices in said storage system and which is different from saidfirst physical storage device selected by said monitor unit, beassociated with the first logical storage area.
 18. The computer systemaccording to claim 17, wherein, when the first and second logicalstorage areas identified by said first and second computers are createdin said storage system, said management computer has priority migrationinformation including identification information on said plurality ofphysical storage devices which is associated with the first and secondlogical storage areas and which indicates destinations of data to bestored in the first and second logical storage areas and, if thecapacity of said first physical storage device associated with the firstlogical storage area exceeds the predetermined threshold, saidmanagement computer sends a migration instruction to said storagesystem, said migration instruction indicating that said first logicalstorage area be associated with another physical storage devicedifferent from said first physical storage device based on said physicalstorage devices identified by said monitor unit as not being used bysaid first and second computers and on the priority migrationinformation.
 19. A data control method for use in a storage systemconnected to a first computer and a and second computer, said datacontrol method comprising the steps of: providing a first logicalstorage area and a second logical storage area to said first computerand said second computer respectively from at least one physical storagedevice out of a plurality of physical storage devices in said storagesystem; receiving an access request to said first logical storage areafrom said first computer; if a capacity of said first physical storagedevice associated with the first logical storage area is equal to orlower than a predetermined threshold, allocating a data storage areaused by said first computer from said first physical storage device inresponse to the access request to the first logical storage area fromsaid first computer to respond to the access request; and if thecapacity of said first physical storage device associated with the firstlogical storage area exceeds the predetermined threshold, associatingthe first logical storage area with another physical storage device,which is associated with the second logical storage area and isdifferent from said first physical storage device, and allocating thedata storage area, used by said first computer, from said anotherphysical storage device to respond to the access request.
 20. The datacontrol method according to claim 19, further comprising the steps of:if the capacity of said first physical storage device associated withthe first logical storage area exceeds the predetermined threshold,migrating data, which is stored in said first physical storage deviceassociated with the first logical storage area and is used by said firstcomputer, to said another physical storage device which is one of saidplurality of physical storage devices and has a predetermined capacity;and allocating the data storage area, used by said first computer, fromsaid another physical storage device to respond to the access request.